Intergenerational Learning Lives. Stop the Squawk.

The squawk about the differences between “generations in the workplace” is running out of sound bytes. How we learn, how we do or don’t get technology – the more we make of this trivia the more stuck we get. Going back to age 19 in my first retail management job, I seem to recall there were at least three generations on the go with probably as many differences to be found and just observing all that mutigenerational human behaviour taught me lots.

Learning is ageless. My motto then was, “learn from the best and the worst, discard the rest”. I don’t recall naming it intergenerational learning. Yet not much has changed for me, most of my recent learning has come from at least three generations and all for different reasons.

It will be no surprise to many that there is an “international” intergenerational learning network out there which suggests that we obviously need to capitalize on this passing opportunity for more reasons than salvaging a modern workplace.

“Many changes in society – such asincreased geographic mobility – have led to generations frequently becoming distanced or segregated from one another, particularly younger and older people. This separation can lead to unrealistic, negative stereotypes between generations and a decrease in positive exchanges between them.” EMIL’s conference in the UK, July 9-11, 2012.